


Symbiotes, not Parasites

by felicia_angel



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Agony's name is now Blue, And Torment, Ayn Rand hate, Carlton Drake is having a Bad Week, Dora Skirth's family has they/them pronouns, Eddie and Venom are smart enough to not argue, Gen, I watched too much Food Wars, Mostly Crack, Riot loves romance novels, Some Seriousness, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Women Being Badasses, crackfic, food used for peace, if you've had chickens you know which one it is, more tags to be added with chapters, not a lot but enough, not the good romance novels, only bad chickens were harmed in the making of this fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-08-25 15:51:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16663744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felicia_angel/pseuds/felicia_angel
Summary: A series of chapters after the end of Venom, where Dr. Skirth bonds with the blue-symbiote (who needs a better, non-threatening name), bad guys are divided among the three, and strangeness abounds.





	1. The Symbiotes - WE ARE

**Author's Note:**

> The story is un-beta'd, except for me reading through it multiple times. hope you all enjoy it ^^

The symbiote known as Riot is in charge, but only for certain events. He is the leader for fights, the “team leader”, the general of sorts.

Agony is the one who was actually put  _ in charge  _ of the mission - it was their first mission, but they had been in charge. They had told Riot and the others to comply and to work on figuring out more about the strange things that came to their meteor, took them, and seemed to report to someone about them. It would be best, with just four, for them to figure out the ones that had them before they took control and got back to the comet. The window for that was only so large, and they needed to get everything right. Agony was primed to easily create a few more of themselves, Scream could divide and then continue to do so, and Riot and Venom could protect and divide as well. Simple, easy takeover, then return the main four to the comet.

Riot had vetoed that choice and, per usual, set things “in motion”. 

“In Motion” meaning Scream died and Agony is now currently bonded with one Doctor Dora Skirth, who is scared, freaking out, and generally not making anything easy while both Venom and Riot are out and about somewhere. Agony and Venom had been bonded with the most people - Agony with the first who’d come in, a man who’d not wanted them and who’d been sick, ill, and who only deserved to be devoured to fuel their survival after months of less than substantial hosts. Others they had tried with - tried communication until they learned that was viewed as the Host communicating, not them, and that the tests were simply painful, seeing what their limits were, and only stopping when it was demanded.

The hosts gave up, and so Agony offered them their outs, and did their best to try to not be painful. It fueled their survival, ended the Host’s suffering, and kept Agony alive.

Agony learned a great deal from this one Host already, formerly one of their tormentors that they’d considered eating but stopped at the first shrinking, fearful thoughts. They learn, through Doctor Skirth’s fears and the most recent memory of what happened between her and the man holding them - Drake - that Venom is probably eating up some human named Eddie Brock. They also know that Venom might, possibly, use this as a chance to prove themselves, or at least to keep the host if it’s a compatible one.

Venom likes his hosts. He likes their fear and if they are overall interesting to him, he keeps them far longer than most other symbiotes. It’s simply his nature, and Agony respects that. They’ve met many others who do that too, but Venom and their line are simply more likely to try to keep whoever their host was, becoming attached to those who are compatible with becoming their long-term hosts.

Agony was put in charge of the mission, and Riot is disobeying their orders. They could have easily gotten all that they needed if Riot hadn’t been such an idiot. It had taken her this long to even get in sync with a host, and they had ultimately begged for death to escape the pain. They’d given in to their last host’s request - his mind and body had hurt too much, and they had only given that pain a new name, so they ended it for them, and waited for the next host.

They did not expect one of those who’d observed them from the beginning, who’d sometimes spoken to them, muttered her worries, and who had been in obvious distress earlier.

...they also expected a much larger host, but this one would do.

**_We are Agony_ ** . They tell the Doctor they’ve bonded to,  **_We are not going to hurt you._ **

The doctor shivers, hiding her head, curling into a ball. Agony takes this to move down to the hidden area, hoping that whatever she’s doing, it’s going to aid their escape.

The doctor is scared, as most humans had been, but something like determination fills her enough to push it back and speak to the symbiote.

“Agony is a bad name if you don’t want to hurt people.”

**_We will work on it later. We will leave now._ **

“How?”

**_The others have died? Show me how they look._ **

Skirth picks up on it quickly, and shows her, and Agony has a  _ Plan. _

This Plan ends shortly after they manage to get out when they see Venom, only with a female Human this time, finding Eddie - who they were going to save - and then...kissing him.

Of course he rebonds that way. Agony needs to have Talks with him.

**_“VENOM!”_ **

**_“Agony! You are alive! Riot is in Drake, they are planning to head back to the asteroid. We’re going to stop them - I mean I will, with my host.”_ **

Ok, hearing it out loud, their name  _ is  _ terrible, but also…

“ **_..you’re going to stop Riot...on...your own?”_ **

**_“With Eddie, but yes.”_ **

Agony would like to point out that they are the smartest one of the millions on the asteroid. They are the leader of this team, and leader of their group that had originally numbered in the hundreds, but now is down to three. It is because of Riot that they are even on this planet with the people they are, and that they will have to go back to the asteroid for reinforcements. That they were unable to do the plan that should not have taken  _ six months _ on this planet.

Reinforcements are now very likely going to die before they even get a chance to eat anyone. Because one of them will bond like Venom did. Like she did.

Like she  _ knows  _ Riot has because he wanted to kill the Human that had the things to lock them up in, and that human is still alive. So obviously, that Human is important enough to Riot that he wants to keep it.

“ **_No, you aren’t._ ** ”

“ **_We are - I am! We can!_ ** ”

Agony considers the easiest, simplest way to put this.

**_“Venom, you’re a loser who I allowed to work with us because we thought we’d need someone to distract the people while we took over and came back with more of us. I’m more amazed you lived through this all and managed to find a good host than I am that Riot has somehow convinced his own host that launching his rocket_ ** **now** **_is a great idea. You were just wearing that lady_ ** ,” they point to the very confused blond woman, “ **_And were very obviously convincing her to explain kissing so you could do that to get back with Eddie._ ** ”

“WHAT?” “Wait, WHAT?” “ **_NO! BE QUIET AGONY!_ ** ”

_ Getting a new name the moment this whole event is done. _

**_Agreed._ **

“ **_You are not going to stop Riot. You will distract Riot while I deal with him, then I will_ ** **have words** **_with you_ ** **both.** **_”_ **

Venom doesn’t look happy, but he also seemed a bit distracted…

And that was when he ran off.

“OH THIS IS BULLSHIT!” their host and the woman yelled, the host looking over at the blonde woman and nodding before they both race after them. Agony quickly envelops their host, picking up the blond woman and racing to the control room as the woman said, “Frequencies! We can use that on the rocket, right?”

_ We can. It’s the only way to get them to get off of Drake and Brock and force them to listen. _

Their Skirth was thinking, mind going a million places at once, before she said a few things to her and then added, “If you do that, the two symbiotes will split from their host. We’ll have to focus it on the rocket while they’re there. Their human hosts should survive, depending on how far they fall and how far from each symbiote.”

A nod, a quicker bit of information changing hands, and the two women parted.

They rejoined after going to get the two hosts and their symbiotes, Skirth giving her a few ideas on how best to hold the two men and symbiotes while they had their discussion. It mostly involved holding the men, having a very large set of speakers to one side, and the sheer surprise of Agony and Skirth being alive and bonded with a previously-thought dead symbiote.

Eddie sits, as did Venom, who apparently explained more of their hierarchy and who Agony is. Riot shifted and hemmed while Drake tried his own attempt to face Skirth down.

He sat when the two women put their hands on the dial again, and Anne glares them all down, cowing both men quickly.

“ _ Boys _ , if you want, we can  _ play nice _ , or we can play  _ dirty _ .”

Anne and Skrith were good at making them understand the new boundaries. The four were now three, Riot was not in control, and Venom was a loser but he obviously was far better prepared, he and his host, for anything they set up.

So...boundaries.

“ **_We will eat the scientists. You will eat the bad board members. He will eat the bad men on the streets._ ** ”

“ **_He’s a loser._ ** ”

“ **_He’s doing better, and would have beaten you, and killed you. He is adaptable, that is not a loser._ ** ”

Venom looked proud of that praise from her, and Agony quickly asked something of Skirth, who agreed because a) science and b) the men-symbiotes obviously needed to be reminded of who was in charge. Skrith had been in charge of testing, and knew how to move things along to keep things healthy. She’d not pushed when she should have, and others had died or been hurt. She wasn’t about to not push back again.

Agony grew to their full size, engulfing Skirth fully in them and looking down at the others. Drake’s eyes widened in fear. Riot’s last attempt to  _ peacock himself  _ failed as Venom and Eddie just watched, Eddie obviously asking and Venom explaining quietly while Agony loomed over Riot and his host.

“ **_We are not allowing ourselves to ruin a good infiltration plan in the hopes of taking over people instead. We are not leaving a trail for others to find us. We were Agony, but we are changed. Venom is still himself, but he is with Eddie and will remain so. You and Drake will remain so and face the consequences of your actions. The millions would not follow you, Riot. Learn how to lead from Drake, or we will only be one of many, and then killed for a petty reason._ ** ”

They do the smart thing and both nod. Venom and his Human are smart enough to stay silent, and Annie looks almost surprised when they go back into Skirth and she smiles at them all. “Good. Ok...I’m a bit hungry, and my coworkers are kinda on my shit list...so….let’s call it a night?”

“Seconded,” Eddie states as he stands and the others head out, leaving a very confused Riot and Drake sitting on their overstuffed, plush chairs, to think about what they’d done.

“...you’re not really gonna eat your colleagues, are you?” Anne asked quietly.

“No.” Skirth lied expertly. “Just have a talk with them.”

Eddie seems to know, and he says nothing, instead leading Anne out of the building as Skirth and Agony turn to track down the other two they need to ‘speak with’. It can’t be too long - Skirth’s children need to know their mother’s alright, and they had to talk to their husband about a few things. Having a nutritionist/writer for a loved was is a great thing.


	2. Drake and Riot - Eat the Rich

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake and Riot attempt to figure out their routine and situation as they work to get the Life Foundation back into order. That means having Carlton Drake's friend and main PR guy, Wyatt, know their secret and not exploit that TOO much.

After Agony’s display and action against her fellow scientists, they’d settled into their roles that was thrown on them. The loser and his ex-girlfriend had left after Eddie muttered something about possibly suing Drake for everything. Drake realized quickly he’d have to face a nightmare in getting his business back to the point where it could be considered a good company, and that meant he’d have to work on rebranding what happened, then rebranding what he now was, and  _ then  _ hope the comet was in a place they could get to, or at least that they could set up a few things so everything would be ready when it  _ did  _ pass again.

Of course, Drake considered that this meant he was going to be  _ another  _ billionaire superhero. And then lamented it.

_ Lamented _ , being the keyword, not  _ whine.  _ He’s too rich to  _ whine. _

“I don’t need this. I had a normal, simple, easy childhood! I’m nowhere near broken enough to count as one of those assholes!”

**Then we should be bad guys, eat and do whatever we like.**

“That is literally the next most cliche thing I could do and I’m not a cliche. Also Doctor Skirth and Agony will come after us.”

**...we could do something else then.**

That was probably the one big thing Riot learned from Drake, or so Drake hoped - being anything was going to come with expected limitations, imposed limitations, and actual limitations. Riot had been limited by the humans he’d taken before, but seeing it even in their best Host was one that obviously annoyed the symbiote. Riot hates the idea of lying, but he learns well enough from Drake and his interactions after the whole thing.

The line Drake repeats is that he’d been an unwilling victim in what had happened, that he’d been taken over when he’d learned about the scientists working illegally in human testing, learned from - of all people - Brock and Doctor Skirth, who’d then nearly been killed by the scientists using the symbiotes. Doctor Skirth had barely managed to survive, Brock had had to run off and hide as rogue parts of his company tried to silence him, and they’d worked to ‘infect’ Drake in the hopes of fully covering their tracks. Carlton Drake had been taken over, and the ‘monster’ had influenced him until it thought it could escape. It was sheer luck that Doctor Skirth and Brock had managed to figure things out and save him from the evil, as well as ‘get rid’ of their own evil.

His current PR guy, a blond-haired, blue-eyed man who looks like he’d be more at-place in some Edwardian period piece as a young military officer over the 21st century futuristic medical/space tech company, and tends to wear bowties or be somewhere with his shirtsleeves rolled up, top two buttons undone, and a tablet pen somehow balancing behind one ear. He’s good at his job, if old-fashioned, and has every woman who doesn’t know him swooning, and a few of the men as well.

He is also, strangely enough, the only one to figure out that Drake is  _ lying _ , but his position makes him one of the ones that Riot cannot eat. The added fact that he is, in actually, the only good friend Drake has also means he is not someone Riot can eat. After the first two meetings, where the PR man had figured out that Riot was still with them and that the recent deaths in science department were probably Skirth’s fault, things had been tense. He’d then pitched the simple fact that if Riot ate him, he’d have to get someone who’d find out, and word would get out, and that would be Bad For the Company.

So they suffer through his constant nagging, demands, and masterful work with the press if it means they can  _ plot. _

_ PLAN, not plot. We’re not a supervillain! _

**Plan then. Plot later.**

Riot dislikes being so quiet and unable to do much, revealing instead on feeding off of Drake’s true feelings or when Drake goes for a workout in their private, expanded gym so he can stretch and show off his power and abilities, test his limits, and even chase after some lesser creatures - animals and the like that Drake has brought in for ‘testing’ and which disappear, eaten by Riot as a treat. There aren’t many, of course, and while they are fun to get, Riot does want more of a chase, and remaining quiet during the times he must, or finding something else to focus on while Drake is at boring things, is starting to both turn into a challenge and an interesting sort of exercise. 

Feeling Drake’s true feelings on the subjects, on when he is sincere over lying, over how he figures out the best way to lie, is quite amusing. The true upset his Host has at the families who cry at the deaths caused and how he promises to not go back to the meteor (a truth and a white lie - the meteor is not in range anymore, but may be later), to make space travel  _ safe  _ and without the risks they’d seen, and how each family is addressed differently, based on cultural beliefs and needs. Drake protests the attempt by one person, in the past, to classify him as a sociopath - the term is bandered about too much, Drake thinks, and there is too much stigma to it as the plotting villain, the evil and immoral CEO who only sees the bottom line. He simply knows how to work with people, and he likes having things in order, controlled. The right word can get a person on your side, but sometimes that won’t always stop things that are destroying their planet. So he needs the extra incentive - the new place to go, the new avenue - so they can fix what he’s not able to fix now. 

If it was sociopathy, it was that and he was not some evil dictator - he was a businessman who helped, and that made all the difference. It wasn’t his fault that people had too many kids in places they shouldn’t, or that people, no matter what you told them, would not believe in climate change. He can show them this new avenue, and fix it when they aren’t an issue. 

Riot is not one to go unnoticed, making things a bit more difficult for the PR man. It makes things difficult for Drake, because while he has the money to spend and clean up his mess, he must also deal with someone who comes up and who Riot  _ wants to eat,  _ a PR person who is not very nice about everything and probably paranoid about how best to rework things before even  _ allowing  _ that Riot  _ might  _ be reformed.

Then there’s a board meeting.

-

The phone call at 2am is surprising, but a brief look at the ID is enough to tell him that it’s his boss. Wyatt Bromhead sighs, running a hand through his slightly curly hair and sleepily answering the phone. He hopes this isn’t some call to fix something because they ate someone. So far live animals had worked, but Bromhead knows it will be a matter of time before they screw up and  _ he’ll  _ be left trying to figure this out.

_“Tell Riot he can’t eat my board members._ **_Tell Drake he is being an asshole and should let me eat them all._** ”

It’s almost as bad as if they ate someone.  _ GREAT _ . He doesn’t even have his usual energy drinks - he’d been trying to cut back because he’s not a stereotype,  _ thank you very much _ , but if they call him at 2am for this, he’s allowed a Redbull, damnit.

“I am not answering either of those. You two figure out who you can eat yourselves.”

“ _ No, Wyatt, wait...sorry, just...if I ask, could you...check the members out? _ ”

Damn Drake and their friendship. Damn Drake and his inability to hear  _ no _ . And damn that alien for making it harder to say ‘no’ to him. “You didn’t check on them yourself before you hired them on as board members?”

“ _ They’re rich investors into my medical company who sign off on the things I do, you really think I check on how likely it is one of them is  _ actually  _ a bad guy? Especially at the beginning?” _

_ “ _ Did Riot not let you get through a board meeting?”

Silence on the other end, a pregnant and very childish one. Wyatt needs more than Redbull. He needs those energy drinks that were made illegal because they were as close you could get to cocaine without having a dealer. 

Screw this, he needed a  _ raise  _ so he could afford whatever he needs to deal with these two asses.

“Drake... _ Riot _ ...I need to know this because I  _ don’t want to explain this again _ . We have a timeline. We have a very serious, important timeline that is very, very important to follow. This was explained to you both. In detail. Drake, you signed off on it because it’s a good timeline and Riot agreed because I have Skirth on speed dial, and she’s currently on medical leave because of what you decided to do. So this is your fault, right? Which is why we’re following the timeline,  _ right? _ ”

“ **_We did not eat anyone._ ** ” For the massive space-alien that is a leader of millions, Riot is very much like Drake when they get called out - they hate it and try to argue. Lucky them that Wyatt has never fallen for anything Drake said, and so it’s not going to work when the man-eating alien tries it. **_“The meeting was called early because we did not feel well._ ** _ I had to pretend to puke, that I’m sick. As a side effect of the thing. Can we use that? _ ” Of course Drake sounds more annoyed at being forced to improvise over the puking.

They could use it, though. That didn’t stop Wyatt from wanting to remind the two that they can’t simply--

Ok, they  _ could _ and the amount of good PR they might get from it would help out. More so than when Drake simply allowed his medications to be used at near-generic price because he didn’t see why not. Of course, Drake’s other reason was that he also needed to see if there were any  _ other  _ side effects and allowing for a wider distribution meant knowing this without going through long trials. He’d later been a bit confused when Wyatt, after a long look at the ceiling while silently muttering prayers in three languages, told him that if he got sued for it, that was on him.

They made so much money that it wouldn’t have mattered, and Drake’s status as the benevolent CEO of a company called Life Foundation had been enough to make Elon Musk jealous. Then they’d gotten their rockets up and working first, which had sincerely made the man  _ hate them.  _ Then again, Drake didn’t want to retire on Mars. He wanted a place to throw everyone else so he could work on fixing the unfixable.

“We CAN, but I don’t  _ want to _ . In case you forgot, the whole thing with Brock and his own little...friend...is still hotly disputed on the news and everywhere else. So is the whole Accords that the UN pulled a few years ago because of bad PR and SHIELD’s issues.” He pauses to crack open the largest Redbull he still has in his fridge (Carlton owes him  _ so much _ for this call), “Which I know I told you both. In detail. Extreme, long, and very detailed detail, in fact. I even took the time to include graphs. I went full Steve Kornaki on you and this is how you repay me, Carlton?”

He is pulling out Drake’s first name, to prove how serious this is. Riot knows this is serious because, while they were arguing how the timetable, he had used it to win the argument before graphs had even come up. They were only pulled out for another part, one that Drake was being stubborn about.

“... _ In my defense one of them quoted Ayn Rand again...” _

“I told you before that’s no reason to fire the man, let alone eat him.  _ But... _ I will look into things. If only because I know we need to change things up in your group.” Wyatt briefly wonders why he even promises this - he already knows who he wants Drake to eat, and anything he finds will only add to Drake’s decision to be less like the sociopath  _ some people  _ (Eddie Brock) thought he was, and more like the sociopath Wyatt knew he could be.

If it helps out things, then Wyatt thinks he can deal with some of the moral issues that might come up. He’s dealt with the other ones well enough.

-

Riot, during the night, reads Ayn Rand’s  _ The Fountainhead _ , the only book of hers that Drake will allow in his home because it’s marked up with how the main character is an idiot. Drake gives him a variety of other books and lets him devour those as they wait for news of who they could  _ actually  _ devour in their board group. 

_ Knowledge is power, knowing what you are supposed to is powerful. That’s how you get in charge of a business and not in prison. _

Riot reads, but he obviously is not about to learn much from it, and seems almost annoyed with the choices allowed him. The well-worn, dog-eared copy of  _ The Art of War  _ is appreciated more than the highlights and notes in  _ How to Win Friends and Influence People,  _ and various others that are simply simmering in the back of Drake’s quick, powerful mind quickly are read by Riot during the night when Drake has to sleep, only to be discarded by the symbiote as quickly as they’re read. Riot manages, because of his last few Hosts, to figure out a few languages at least, and Drake doesn’t complain when he wakes up tired but able to speak semi-fluent Russian, Tamal, and even some Malay and Mandarin Chinese. He is upset because Riot only found a copy of  _ Anna Karenina  _ in Russian, hence why he knows  _ outdated Russian _ semi-fluently, and Wyatt, when he heard, gifts them with a novel that he thinks Riot will enjoy - a romance novel he’d picked up on accident.

Not even  _ good  _ romance novels. Not anything that withstood the test of time, like  _ Moll Flanders  _ or  _ Tales of Genji  _ or even any  _ Austin  _ novel. Drake could even take some sickly-sweet novel from the last century too, if it was  _ good _ . 

But  _ NO _ , it had to be the  _ paperback novels _ . Paperback, period-piece,  _ ours-is-a-love-that-will-never-die _ with unrealistic sex  _ paperback  _ Walmart-bargain bin  _ romance novels.  _ By someone who  _ isn’t Nora Roberts _ .

“If you don’t find me someone to eat, he’s going to start trying to set me up and then eat them the ones he doesn’t like,” Drake complained to Wyatt, during their ‘time’. Riot was ‘unconscious’, or at least not listening in, unless Wyatt demanded the two be present. Riot did that for some things, especially things he considered ‘boring’. If Drake could, he’d figure out a way to get something hidden under his desk so Riot could read or something. He’d even get a bunch of mice if it meant keeping the symbiote quite.

The last batch had, but he also now had to figure out the best way to run with ‘I’m thinking about owning a snake’ without it sounding evil or something. 

That’s what Wyatt is for. Drake is good at some things, he knows that, but Wyatt is better with the press and the spin. He’d been the one who’d tried to veto Brock’s first visit, pointing out seriously that Brock was not the ‘best choice’ for this and would ‘cause trouble’. But the other PR managers had pointed out the one thing that would ensure Drake picked Brock - Brock was not hard to win over. Brock would call him out if he found out about something for the Life Foundation, or if there was a hint of something, or just because Drake had said the wrong thing the wrong way.

Drake had liked the idea of ending someone’s career, but the end results - including Venom and his antics - had made things hard. That Wyatt had nearly quit twice was another reason to make Drake realize his old college friend was the best one to know about Riot and he, and that Drake follow what he suggested...to a degree.

“If you don’t follow what I told you, I’m going to get my mother’s zines. You know. The Star Trek ones she wrote, back in the day? She’ll be so pleased I’m putting them up on the web...but there’s a lot.” Wyatt doesn’t even grin or look up as he checks the schedules, the schedule they set up that had to be re-evaluated, and puts a Barnes & Noble bag in front of Drake. “I’m sure Riot could help me put them up online. There’s at least three websites they’re going on.”

Drake feels himself pale. “You wouldn’t.”

Wyatt’s blue eyes go up to meet Drake’s, all business and deathly serious. “Try me.” He glances back at the calendar after Drake looks away first, “Also Riot will need to read those. I have a bit of a spy bug going on...like that last time, freshman year?”

Drake remembers, and smiles a bit. He can deal with this. 

-

It’s after the second one that Drake realizes what Wyatt is doing, and stops by, intent on saying that he won’t be used. He’s in charge, and he’s not about to let his PR guy, his only friend, drag him into whatever his plan is for the company.

It’s Drake’s company, and he won’t let anyone take it from him!

He stops short the moment his eyes see three simple books on Wyatt’s desk, situated so Drake  _ would  _ see them first thing. Right above a box labeled ‘zines’.

“You  _ wouldn’t. _ ”

“I’m doing what’s best for your image and the company’s future, but if you want to dispute it…” Wyatt taps on the top book meaningfully. It’s the oldest edition, with two hands holding a bright red apple in between, the title spelled out in gold.

All three and the charity book are there, and Wyatt’s computer is open, not his laptop. A scanner is going too. His blue eyes meet Drake’s dark ones in a battle of wills.

Drake glances away first, perking Riot’s curiosity.

“So...anyone else you think we need to eat?”

“I have a few ideas. Just people who’ll work against us, climate change deniers, those sorts.”

Drake can work with this. Riot liked the challenge of getting into the fortified home that one had set up for no other reason than he had the money. Drake had enjoyed making it look like he’d run off with all his money due to an indictment that was coming his way.

He could work with this.

“If you pull those out again, I swear Wyatt…”

“He hasn’t ready anything by Sparks, has he?”

Drake’s going to eat Wyatt  _ last _ . Maybe. If he wasn’t so surprised and amazed by how devious his friend was, he might get another PR guy, but Drake also knows that it’d be hard to get them up to speed so quickly, and he honestly needs someone to set the boundaries. So he simply shakes his head, annoyed and angry, and storms out in the hopes of saving some of his dignity.

_ The Notebook _ waits for them on his desk, and Riot grabs it before Drake can stop him. He lets out a sigh and resigns himself to his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why yes, I made the large, violent, inhabited-mostly-women and one guy who is very in-touch with his non-feelings addicted to bad romance novels. This is only supposed to be somewhat serious. The rest is crack and heavy shipping.
> 
> Also yes, he was threatened with introducing said romance-loving symbiote to fanfic, the internet, and _TWILIGHT_. This is why Wyatt is besties with Drake. He knows him too well.


	3. Agony and Skirth - Various Plates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skirth and Agony - now called Blue - begins to live their lives. Also some truth is revealed that changes things, but only if Riot and Vee are told.
> 
> Yeah, they don't need to know that Dora and her partner know about that.

Sneaking back home is hard, especially after you’ve eaten two colleagues and have committed what amounts to coporate espionage before faking your own death. Having a huge teen-alien-super-genius who’s somehow larger and more powerful than the supposed ‘boss’ of them is so weird. It’s even weirder when she spots the one chicken that has been causing Skirth’s loved ones and kids...issues...attacking the window and making a general ruckus.

Which is how Pat finds her, outside and trying to quietly scold the blue symbiote now with feathers and most of the chicken in it’s jaw, only a foot out because that’s what Dora had managed to barely grab in the hopes of stopping Agony from angrily eating it. 

“You ate two people already! We can’t...you…” she glances over when she sees Pat looking out the door, blinking sleepily and looking at them with a sort of confused look on their face before turning away.

“It’s not what you think!” Dora let go of the leg and, of course, Agony took that moment to eat the last of the chicken. Then also started to look like she had feathers on her head and side. “I’ll get you another one, dear, please!”

“Dora,” Pat says, getting Dora to fall silent despite how quiet she’d already been, “It’s  _ way  _ too late for this conversation. I’m tired, you have a strange blue...thing...on you, and I got a phone-call saying you were dead earlier today. Only you’re here and eating the asshole chicken. Or the thing is. I don’t know, I don’t care, explain in the morning.”

“...they actually called you?”

“Morning.”

Well, it was late, and they had two scientists and a chicken to metabolize, so Dora told Agony to behave and not eat anyone else until then. Agony agreed, and they headed up with Pat to go to bed.

So in the morning, Agony watched a bit as Pat set up breakfast, checked on the two kids who quickly hugged Dora and cheered her being home. Dora glances up at Pat, who shakes their head before sending the kids out to play. Once they’re out, Pat tells Dora, “I didn’t tell them what happened. So I’m glad to see you back, but please explain what the hell I saw last night? What’s the blue thing that ate the Bad Egg and why were you dead?”

“So...um...most of it was classified, but...Life-Foundation-found-life-on-a-meteor-and-we-managed-to-get-four-back-but-they’re-kinda-parasitic-symbiotes-and-one-attached-to-me-and-it’s-really-big…”Dora took in a breath, “It’s-name-is-Agony-I-dunno-why-and-we-had-to-play-dead-and-she-was-hungry-so-she-...ate...Bad.” Dora slumps. “But we  hated Bad and she was a menace and attacked Ariel and-”

“ **_Blue._ ** ” the voice of Agony stopped them all to from talking before they saw the blue head of Agony appear near Dora’s head. They looked over at Agony as it looks between them with her topaz-colored eyes and the new addition of what looks like blue feathers. “ **_We agreed that the name Agony isn’t a good one for us. We like Blue better._ ** ”

Pat blinked at it, looked at Dora, who shifts and shrugs, then looks back to Agony. “I have...questions.”

“ **_Ok. What?_ ** ”

_ WAS THAT ALL WE NEEDED TO DO? ASK NICELY? _

**_...YES? WHY ARE WE YELLING?_ **

Pat glances between the two again before letting out a sigh. “Whatever is going on, I’m going to assume it’s...something. So...questions and answers.”

“...coffee first.” Because despite everything, she wants her coffee, she  _ needs  _ it for the morning, even if her bond with Agony means she probably doesn’t.

Agony mutters in annoyance as it looks at the black liquid right before Dora adds in sugar, milk, and a scoop of instant hot chocolate, then sipped it deeply.

Agony starts to make a disgusted sound, up until the concoction elements hit their shared link. After that, and as Pat asked various questions to the young but large mass now attached to Dora that creates a sort of large, fluffy glob on the table. Pat even smiles when they notice Agony sneaking sips of its own as Dora listened, mentally taking notes and adding to what she’d seen of the three symbiotes in the labs.

**_You don’t need them. We’re symbiotes now. You will know all of this as well._ **

_ Oh, good...wait...that last thing you said...it’s different from something. _

**_...um…_ **

“What’s wrong?” Pat asks as Dora gives Agony the stink-eye for a long, long moment as the symbiote wiggles around, against her body and inside of her mind. If anything, that only brings up more of Dora’s “upset mom” vibe that gets Agony all the more twisting and upset.

**_Please don’t say I told you?_ **

_ So you were lying about that  _ whole thing _? _

**_…...ummmmm….._ **

“Dora, why are you giving them the same look you give our children when they are caught being naughty?”

“Because they’re hiding something and lying and don’t want to own up to it.”

“ **_It’s not a lie! It’s a...thing...that you can’t tell Riot I said. Or Venom. Or ask me about again._ ** ”

Both Dora and Pat now looked at Agony, who retreated into Dora and fell silent the minute Dora tried to talk her out.

Pat watched the half-quiet argument of attempting to pull Agony - Blue, whichever - out before letting out a sigh. “So...please explain what nutrients they need. I don’t need all of our chickens eaten in a day or less.”

-

Agony - Blue - thinks that it’s very impolite for Pat and Dora to speak about her and plot everything out and make up a  _ delicious shake _ without telling her. Because it’s  _ awesome shake, what is vanilla chai, I want it all,  _ but also because Agony - Blue - is the smartest and best of the group and they should totally be involved in this.

“ **_You didn’t ask us for input,_ ** ” Agony - Blue - mutters as she appears against Dora’s neck, trying to be apologetic while not. They are symbiotes and dangerous, deadly creatures. They could easily create other symbiotes and take over the world. 

They totally could, that’s why Venom is tiny and so shit at fighting.

But  _ vanilla chai protein shakes… _

Dora had been on cooking for the past few days while Pat dealt with things, mostly at their work and with the children, and the children seem to know something is odd about mother but overall they are not surprised or afraid. They mentioned the Life Foundation a few times, with Dora explaining she isn’t going to work because they’re tired and need to rest, so took time off. Agony - Blue - wonders how this is so different from her not wanting to tell them the full truth of what happened, but doesn’t speak up because she’s afraid that Dora will make her explain everything.

Agony - Blue - doesn’t want to explain. They want to be here and happy, and have Riot do his thing, unless that Wyatt guy calls about something. Brock has already called to check on them, and so has a man named Dan Lewis, who is nice and knows about the symbiotes - apparently because he’d helped Brock when Venom had first found him. He and Dora  _ plot  _ when he explains what he saw with Brock and Venom, early on, and she wants to say that it’s actually because of the MRI, not because of Venom. But Dora figures that out first - that the effect of the sound and being hurt by fire would cause the symbiote, and thus the host, pain. Agony - Blue - is amazed at how quickly she figures out the reason for the issues with the internal organs and what was going on.

“They stress-eat.”

“ _ That explains  _ so many things _. _ ”

“...Can I get the MRI readouts?”

“ _ Of course! E-mail or something else? _ ”

But the point is that after a week of Dora cooking and work and everything else, Pat returns to rest, to see if everything is going good, and the next day,  _ cooks _ .

Agony - Blue - is unprepared for the onslaught of tastes and textures that threaten to undermine their ability to lead or do anything besides purr happily. Rumaki is made with livers and crunchy bit and bacon, and there’s more food that is something you taste with  _ all of your body  _ and she  _ really wants to tell Riot so he can be jealous. _

“That reminds me,” Dora says between bites ( _ how is she so blase about this best thing ever? _ ), “I need to talk to Drake about the protein shake. You don’t mind sharing, do you?”

Pat smiles and passes over something that smells delicious and there’s a second helping so Agony - Blue - can eat it on her own. She slowly slips out as Pat gives her and Dora a smile. “I don’t mind. They would need to find the right mix, though. Blue being bigger, like you said, means they use things differently, and their general intake of what they can afford also changes things.”

“You’re still upset Eddie told you he ate tater tots, chocolate, and bad people.”

“I’m  _ not _ ....” Pat couldn’t really lie convincingly, which was a problem when the two had to try to lie about stuff for their kids. They’d hoped that the kids didn’t notice, or were too polite to say anything.

Agony - Blue - eats the food. They do  _ not  _ turn into a ball of goo and purring after finishing it, and they certainly don’t blush when Pat smiles again, sensing strange and wonderful feelings from her host. A memory of something delicious, of a strange food and then a challenge, then delicious oozy goodness in cooked fat. Though Agony - Blue - isn’t a fan of cooking, she can see why humans do it. 

“I think she likes it.”

“ **_We do_ ** **,** ” Agony - Blue - mutters from in the bowl, having slurped up the liquid in the bottom and now resting most of themselves into a bowl, with only a few bits of herself attached to Dora.

“That’s a convenient way to carry her,” Pat chuckles before having to spill the symbiote out as Dora chuckles and scoops them up, holding them a bit up and against her chest as Pat does the dishes. “I can do those. You cooked.”

Agony - Blue - hums in agreement, shifting enough to reach over and grab the dishes as Pat looks over at them and chuckles, love in their eyes as they watch Dora and the symbiote work. It’s not a lot, not like the work that Agony - Blue - does is important, but somehow it  _ is _ , and they love the feeling they get on their own and share with Skirth.

“So,” Skirth says after they finish, “are you going to tell us what you lied about, or do we have to guess?”

**_“...we don’t know--._ ** ”

“OH, Blue, I wanted you try something.” The food goes into Blue’s mouth before she can process what it is. The peanut-butter ickiness leaves just as quickly and Blue growls at Pat, who is smirking with a whole plate full of disgusting food.

“I’ll live through it until you tell us,” Skirth tells Blue, getting them to whimper. They can’t kill Pat, Pat makes the shakes and the delicious wonderful food and teaches Blue which chickens to kill and how and how to get the eggs out.

But that was  _ DISGUSTING _ , and some random, strange memories of Skirth’s says that there are  _ others...more disgusting... _ _ waiting _ .

“ **_...but you can’t tell Drake. Or Riot._ ** ”

“We won’t,” Skirth soothed, petting Blue a bit as they shivered. The tang was still  _ on their tongue _ . That was horrible. “Now...come on.”

“.... **_We...there was four of us on that meteor because we were...exiles. I was in charge of the exile._ ** ”

Silence as the two looked at her. 

“How are you  _ in charge  _ of your own exile?” Skirth sounds almost confused by this.

“ **_We were supposed to find a way to redeem ourselves and then come back with news of our conquest and prove we’d managed things. It’s why Riot and Venom kept trying for the rocket. Riot thought he could simply figure it out and just go from there and bring everyone back here. Venom probably thought the same. Neither are very smart._ ** ”

“And then Venom met Eddie,” Skirth said, in a way that made Blue look at her curiously. “Nothing. What was your plan?”

“ **_Well, you all work really well and are adoptable so long as some bit of us are working and respond to fear well, so I was going to use that we could find compatible humans and use a group of others as stock for food and labor in environments toxic to us. Or use our combined predatory natures and explorative needs to find new worlds to conquer.”_ **

“Blue, you caved in because of squid and peanut butter,” Skirth reminds her, getting Blue to hiss at Pat when they wave another piece at them. “Eddie and Venom live off freakin’ tots and chocolate sauce and whatever else they scrounge up,” now Pat looks annoyed, probably because that means they can’t use the hell-concoction on them, “and I have it on good authority that we are not to tell Riot about the internet for  _ reasons _ .” Blue and Pat looks at her, “I was not told the reasons, only that there were some. If you all are so easily manipulated, I’m going out on a limb and suggesting your plan won’t work.”

“ **_It totally would!”_ **

“Pat created something involving snake and some sort of sauce and tried it on me.” Skirth allows the memory to flow between them, and Blue turns on the grinning Pat.

“ **_THAT’S HORRIBLE HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING? THAT’S A CRIME. IT’S A CRIMINAL OFFENSE. AN_ ** **INTERGALACTIC** **_CRIMINAL OFFENSE. I SHOULD REPORT YOU!_ ** ”

“...the semi-parasitic alien is going to report me creating horrible food to an intergalactic police, I’d be flattered if it didn’t mean I’d have to bring the chickens along.”

“ **_...bribery will not help you._ ** ”

“I was going to make something with curry and noodles tomorrow night.”

“He’s been forgiven.”

“ **_NO, don’t give in to his lies! You know he’ll make another illegal hell-concoction again!_ ** ”

“Yes, and now I know who best to try it on,” Pat’s grin is far too wicked, and Skirth glares at them before saying. “No.”

“But--.”

“No traumatizing my symbiotic-alien, that’s bad. Also that’s what Wyatt is for.”

“Firstly, Wyatt only notices the bad stuff because his taste-buds are shot from all that Red Bull he drank, and secondly, if we do that Riot  _ might  _ learn about the internet. Which will only make him more dangerous. He might accomplish in  _ three months  _ what he nearly did in  _ six. _ ”

“ **_You’re giving him too much credit._ ** ”

“Dear, this is an alien who decided to kill off and push forward a rocket launch after learning they  _ had the rocket ready _ , but just needed a few more things. Who was ready to kill everyone, run away, and probably eat Drake on the trip home.”

“ **_...Riot might not have eaten Drake, he and Venom like their hosts too much sometimes. He likes fixing them until he’s done with them, then he leaves them unconscious. The last few he didn’t exactly deal with well, last I heard.”_ **

The two looked over at Blue as she looks between them.

“Ok, that explains the apologizing he did in Malyasia, Hong Kong, and why Jameson  _ hasn’t  _ murdered his reputation. I mean beyond what he already tried. Beyond that, I guess now we have to just figure out what to do next.”

Blue doesn’t know what this feeling is, but she likes it, and after one last hiss at Pat when they wave the illegal hell-concoction at her, Blue admits that Skirth is right. They’ll just have to figure out the next plan to deal with things here.

“I’m not helping you plan an invasion of Earth.”

“ **_But…_ ** ”

“Not even as a last resort of bad things happening either.”

“Yeah, Cody already made that plan, like, months ago. It’s pretty good too.”

“PAT!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I was catching up on Food Wars when I wrote this, ok?

**Author's Note:**

> So for those who are confused, the current hierarchy goes:  
> \- Agony (the Blue one) - _Specialist/Intelligence_ , who is younger than the other two but is smarter so, team leader for a four-team to infiltrate and judge the viability of the race. They are also larger than Riot, despite being in the shortest Human.  
> \- Riot - _General/Attack Coordinator_ , second-in-command but one with the most experience in massive invasions, NOT infiltration. He was put on in case of danger, though Agony is larger, Riot is supposed to be the one that everyone 'sees'. He's not good with his words, but has bonded with the wordiest Human who has to deal with people without hitting them.  
> \- Venom - _Loser_ , he was brought to distract or cause a panic. Basically he's the only one who's supposed to get caught or seen or who could possibly create a diversion. He's a very flamboyant loser. Who is now attached to a sweaty loser.


End file.
